*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

I have designed almost all of the avionic flown on the latest generation USA and Canadian fighter aircraft and helicopters which means if you fly commercial airlines you are flying my research, as with the conversation I had with Mr Fox, when you have designed and developed a product from scratch and delivered said product to rave reviews as alienware has, then you might be more than a user, and might have a opinion more than not setting auto save on your word processor, unlike you I do understand the 'magic' of the process, as an end user it is better to leave the engineering to engineers

 

Wow, that was the longest off topic delete click marathon I have had here. Please keep on topic.

 

Anyone else have this issue? Whenever I have Afterburner and rivatuner installed, I cannot open things like alienware command center.

 

I got my system in yesterday. I haven't really done much on it yet, just haven't had the time. I will say I love the support so far. The system came in with a small chip in the palmrest. Since it's a certified refurbished unit I contacted the outlet and other than returning it, they couldn't do anything. I took a chance and hit up Alienware support on twitter and they're going to replace the palmrest for me. It wasn't a big issue and if they would have said no I wouldn't complain about it. Just grateful they're gonna take care of it. It could have something to do with me being active duty and getting ready to deploy real soon. I've always had good support with Dell/Alienware. This is my 3rd Alienware system, and I don't regret it at all. I do wish that we were able to upgrade like back in the M18X R2 days, but I went all in with the 7820 and 1080, so I shouldn't feel the need to upgrade for at least another 6 months, lol.

I plan on running some benchmarks just to get a baseline of the temps I'm getting. I have taken a look at the screen and it appears so far I do not suffer from the banding that others have had with the 1440p screen. My system did only come with 8GB RAM and only the standard 1TB HDD. I'm looking at some M2 SSDs and have found some really good prices on Amazon. Are there any recommendations on SSDs or have most companies closed the gap with each other (I've been out of the scene for a couple years). I'll probably stick with the 8GB of RAM for now. I plan to do at least 16GB, if not go all out with 32GB.

 

What happened here?

Have tried in admin mode? I can open just fine...

 

My IRL peen is bigger than yours. NO mine is. etc etc.

 

Sort of correct @bloodhawk. You could edit the post to correct the order. I had to google what those sentence meant.

 

Was a very broad summary or sorts.



Either ways whats with the whole shabang with certain BIOS's being hotter than other ones? Any one tacking the changes?

 

I don't think it was BIOS causing increased temps but some kind of macro input, micro input, engineering, engineers. I can't remember the whole posts but only bits and pieces. Might have to check my mail to refresh my memory.

 

My BIOS question isnt related to whatever they were whining about.
I want to know if anyone has been keeping track of changes across BIOS' , like voltages/fan curves/clocks etc etc.

 

Better ask @Mobius 1 @iunlock @DeeX

 

I'm noticing the bezel is becoming loose due to glue/tape giving out, especially the bottom side. The screen seems to creak a lot more now due to the bezel. You guys think this tape would work fine?

https://www.amazon.com/Rextin-Meters-Double-Adhesive-Lights/dp/B01FH3S4V6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501464713&sr=8-3&keywords=double+sided+strip&th=1

Yeah, not sure what's going on. Whatever, I don't use the program that much, I'll just ignore it for now.

 

You can always try with that tape.

But I think the best course of action is to ask if Dell can get a replacement bezel for you first.

 

Hey guys,

Brand new to the product and forums.

Just unboxed the Alienware R4 17. Top of the line hardware (cost approx. $3k)

After watching a few youtube vids and reading the forums, I decided to take advantage of the 'free' performance boosts and overclocked the i7 7820HK to 4.4 and gained about 20% increase in the 1080 graphics card. Everything is running stable.

My issues are with heat. I am running Borderlands 2 at max settings and CPUID HWMonitor showing two cores at 100 and the other 2 at 99. This is supported by the fans blowing like crazy.

Outside the obvious of returning the laptop, what are your recommendations?

yes, all BIOS and firmware updated

Thanks
Robot

 

There is nothing like "Free Performance", if you want to OC beyond 4Ghz you will definitely need to repaste with something like Conductonaut or the bare minimum Kryonaut.

 

seems crazy to even consider repasting. (3k and I have to conduct open heart surgery?) The laptops are advertised as overclocking capable to 4.4.

 

Not quite, those are overclocks and never guaranteed. Even the Boost Clocks are limited to only under certain conditions.
What are the thermals like at stock clocks?

 

Okay, fair enough. Seems like I have two options
1. Repaste to support my overclock
2. limit my i7 7820HK to 4.0 (mid-80s temps)

Is that about right? How much does it cost to pay someone to repaste for me? I may consider it...living in north Fl

 

Yeap pretty much.

Umm you might need to check with @iunlock @DeeX @zergslayer69

 

Pl don't pay someone to repaste - you just bought your laptop it should be fit for purpose - contact alienware support - they might send a tech to replace the heatsink and repaste it for you.
Also you don't really see the benefits of overclocking in games, the 7820hk is fine at standard clocks for most day to day stuff ....

Try undervolting the cpu to reduce temps as that will have a much bigger impact then repasting.

Most thermal paste will be fine then what Dell put on in the factory but don't use liquid metal (Conductonaut) I f you haven't re -pasted before ... but seriously if it really bothers you ask Dell to do it.

 

okay, I'll take your suggestions and do both...
1. I'll contact customer service
2. reduce the overclock and try a little undervolt

Thanks

 

So.. kinda disappointed in the short list of ports and no sd slot on this R4.

 

I saw post with some links to a website that sells the better r4 heatsink/fan. Anyone have a link to them? I cant seem to find them anymore..

 

If they don't agree to repaste your unit/still have issues with the heat after technician repaste, always use the return policy and take your business somewhere else.

But making more ports cost money.

And as Dell we can sell them the Dell TB docking station!

https://world.taobao.com/item/543499811454.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.6419a3bcHNEUnl#detail

 

Don't recommend technician repaste. U want a proper repaste and repad. LOL my r2 didnt even have pads on it after dell techs worked on it. Do it right man or get someone to do it for you. ESP with that 1080 and the unlocked bios u will want the pads to be high quality too.

After repasting a handful of times I realized that you want the right paste and to do the pads too to get a full effect.

 

Do they ship to US? Can anyone translate? Lol

 

Then I guess you can return the laptop




@pathfindercod yes

 

Are you able to directly buy that, or do you need to talk to the seller in broken Chinese first?

 

I have a taobao acc and can buy the heatsink shipped to US.

 

Shweeet. Wanna trade for a VC ?

 

I have repasted my 17 r2 and r4 and both are much cooler. It is a high accomplishment to get the 17 r2 to run without throttling and I did that. Just had to do it right.

 

I sent you a PM

 

I received my laptop today and i'm so excited. I ordered it from Dell Outlet, and i was bracing myself for some scuffs, etc. but it looks brand new.

So far the Good:
1. Beautiful 4K AUO screen with no apparent dead pixels
2. No overheating issues so far.
3. GTX1070 GPU has the Samsung Video Memory ( i heard it is better than the Micron)

Bad
1. The bezel where the "Alienware" logo is elevated from the screen. Not sure what to do with it.
2. TobiEyeTracking was nowhere to be found. I downloaded and installed the software from Dell's support page and i got Windows Hello to work, but not the eye tracking software itself. When i click on the icon in the taskbar it says "lets get started", i click "next" and then nothing happens. (Not a big deal since I only care for Windows Hello, i don't care for eye tracking as i don't game).

Now for the important questions about thermals and core temp differences on the 6820HK CPU. I tried to run OCCT v. 4.5. I ran it for about 6 min on the cpu test and the temps barely rose above 65. But the fans never ramped up much. I could barely hear any difference between the fan on idle and on load. I expected the fans to get very noisy (from online reviews) under load. I did notice however that max temps on cores 0 and 2 are higher than cores 1 and 3 by up to 10 or 11 degrees. Average temps are much closer as monitored on HWinfo. Having said that the mulitipliers for different cores were not the same all the time. (OCCT generated graphs for me, i can share if you guys think it's helpful). I'm on BIOS 1.012

So what is the PROPER way to test my cpu to test if i have the dreaded problem with bad thermal paste and/or uneven seating of the cpu on the heat sink. I need to know before i call Dell support to hopefully repaste and fix the bezel issue.

Thank you so much for your help.

 

Be very careful. I know several people who returned their laptop and gave another in replacement and had more problems than the previous one. In my experience, sometimes, it is preferable "bad known", that "good to know". (en mi idioma, preferible malo conocido, que bueno por conocer).

 

cant comment much on the temps of the overlocked cpu, only thing i have to compare them with is my non overclockable 6700hq which maxes out at 66c. if u were running the cpu at stock clocks, then it sounds about right, but 6mins is really not enough time to properly judge it. as for the bezel, thats usually just the double sided tape giving out, replacing the tape should theoretically solved that problem. the tobii eye tracking, if u have a bulge at the bottom of the laptop lid, basically black plastic shroud which houses the tobii unit, then u should be able to use it, if ur lid is all flat, then that indicates that u dont have tobii eye tracking at all.

im by no means an expert, others here would probably be able to help you way more in regards to the cpu, but a 10-11c core diff does seem to indicate an uneven heatsink or the paste not properly spreading over the die

 

Hi, thanks for your reply. I did NOT overclock the CPU at all. I ran OCCT for 30 min, i can confirm that cores 0 and 2 run 10 C higher than cores 1 and 3 by about 10C under load. They run about the same when the computer is idling. The "hot" cores maxed out at about 75 or 73 and the "cool" cores maxed out in low 60s. Having said that i don't understand how OCCT works. Is the multiplier supposed to remain at max x36? Mine did not. They went up and down and hovered at around 30x. But the temps never got any close to 90s at all. I'm looking at the BIOS now and under "Advanced" i see that both "CPU performance mode" and "Fan Performance Mode" are set to "disabled" by default. Is that why my laptop doesn't stay at max multiplier of 36x? Is it supposed to stay at max when under load? Should i contact Dell for a repaste?

As for the Tobii, i can see the red infrared lights flashing when using Windows Hello, i guess that means i have it. It's a minor issue that i will tackle later (probably just a software thing)

Seems that the tape giving up on the bezel is common. How are Dell fixing this? Is it easy to fix?

 

Did you try uninstalling the existing Tobii software and installing this one ? - https://tobiigaming.com/downloadlatest/?bundle=alienware-core

 

Nope, but i will, thank you sir. (i tried again, and i see flashing red lights from the bottom of the bezel under the "Alienware" logo.So i'm sure i have some form of Tobii. Windows Hello words fine. I'll try your software and see if it works. What is different about it?

 

How about return for full refund and buying another brand?

 

I'm not sure. I think you have 30 days to claim a replacement or refund of the money. In my case, I asked for a change of equipment and came with the same problem of temperature and other defects (1 speaker does not work for example, but they updated the CPU and GPU and they gave me an SSD x1tb) but I did a repaste and now works fine.

I think after several repairs they will offer you a replacement or you can ask for the refund of your money.

 

Its directly from Tobii. And IIRC it updates the firmware as well.

 

It worked like a charm. THANK YOU!!

 

I know.

I was just saying that maybe instead of going through multiple replacement and service, it's better to save your time and take the money+business to another company.

 

You can try another brand. But other brands have other similar or worse problems. And the support of other brands is worse (at least in my country).

If your laptop only has a temperature problem, it is better to fix it (With Dell support or on your own) than try another brand and not know what problems you will have. Understand what I say? I solved the temperature problem and now it works great.

 

yea if u see those lights u do indeed have it, must be a software problem. as for OCCT, never used it personally so cant help with that one sorry, i typically use prime95. as for the multipliers, if the cpu u have has a turbo mode alongside being overclockable, then my guess is thats why the multipliers keep changing, where turbo is turning on and off. probably best to ask someone else who has more experience with the HK cpus

 

Yeah, i figured the Tobii eye out. @bloodhawk gave me the right software and it worked just fine.

I have the 6820HK and i figured out how to go to BIOS and set the multiplier to stay constant. Unfortunately, it seems i have the dreaded cpu sink problem that @iunlock talks about. Now i have to make a decision whether to repaste myself or call AW to come and do a repaste/change the MOBO.

For those who have called AW, how easy is it to make them come to your house? What do you say to the rep? I have the "Premium Support with Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis")

 

with mine it was fairly easy to get a tech to come out with a new heatsink, cos mine was hitting 100c just from booting (found out that there was a fault at the factory where the machine that applies the paste missed my cpu entirely, so it was running without paste) he also let me apply my own paste and reattach the heatsink, the new one came with new pads also, since the old ones werent installed properly either. so just tell them u have an uneven heatsink, they should know what ur talking about and send out a new heatsink.

if u are able to get a tech to come out, id highly suggest getting some high quality thermal paste like thermal grizzly kyronaut and use that instead of the paste that comes preapplied to the new heatsink

 

I personally was not able to get my 10 degree difference to go away. I tried bending the arm and using different size thermal pads. If I had some pressure paper that would have helped me see what adjustments needed to be made. I would try a different benchmark just to make sure you are actually stressing the cpu. Sometimes the settings have to be right for the cpu to heat up. 65-75 is pretty darn low for an hk on stock cooling. After full repaste/repad my 6700hq peaks at about 71 on the hottest core and thats at 3.1ghz. Although this is in overwatch so the gpu is also providing alot of heat.

But yeah if its not getting into the 80s even on a heavy benchmark that is pretty good and you might not want to even repaste.

 

I have the 7820HK paired with the 1080 and decided to do a re-paste using Conductonaut but not the thermal pad upgrade. I run emulators which are CPU heavy, not so much GPU. Also, I overclock to 4.3GHz because emulation is so much faster when I do. That being said, the highest temp Ive recorded after about 5 or 6 hours of emulation, after the re-paste, is 78 C on Core 3. However, the other cores are at 68c OR 69c MAX. I plan on re-pasting again with the LM, the fugipoly pads, and also the PCH aluminum heat sink mod, but does anyone know where core 3 sits on this processor? The best information I have found on core locations is the attached image, however not sure it applies to the 7820HK and the cores are not labeled so there is no reference.

EDIT: Reference for picture found at http://www.pcworld.com/article/3152...one-big-change-makes-up-for-smaller-ones.html